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Thursday, September 27, 2012

Do you know that Christmas is coming? Yep, hate to break it to you, but it is right around the corner. I am already seeing Christmas displays in some of my favorite stores. And although I try to look away, I am a bit thankful for their eager holiday spirit, since I try to plan ahead and it's a great reminder to begin searching for gift ideas early.

Knowing Christmas is near, this post is perfect timing. A special thank you to the organizing superstar, Cassie from Hi Sugarplum, she has reminded me why corralling all of those gift wrapping supplies in one convenient place is so smart and important. I love what she has done, and her personal spin on a really great wrapping station.

Hello fellow lovers of all things organized! I'm thrilled to be back here, showing off my latest OCD episode organizing project! I love sharing on Jen's blog, and really appreciate those of you who stop by Hi Sugarplum! I've organized our Pantry and Linen Closet, and created a Family Drop Zone, but when I stumbled on Container Store's big Elfa sale, I knew it was time to tame the wrapping paper beast!

Two years ago when I revealed my son's new room,
I didn't quite show all the details....like the fact I was hoarding
bins of wrapping paper and ribbon under his bed! He didn't really
appreciate me using up that good stash space (you know boys and all that 'stuff' they bring home), or waking him up at midnight when I remembered I needed a gift wrapped for the next morning.

So after purging through the unnecessarily large collection, I hopped over to Container Store for their Door and Wall Rack System.
I've learned the hard way to get more than you think you'll need, and
just return the extras....so I picked up several large deep baskets and
shallow baskets, along with a media rack and wall bar. I was going to
screw the bar directly into the door, but decided I wanted the
flexibility to move it (and to take it with me if we ever move!), so we used over-the-door hooks.

First step is to place all the paper in a deep basket, with the media
rack helping to keep it upright. Once this is done, you'll be able to
see how much door space remains for the rest of your supplies. My house
is not large, so it's important I get the most out of every space.

I folded tissue paper over the rack to keep it smooth, and it also acts as a wall to hold in the really short rolls of paper. (Darn you Target Dollar Spot and your irresistible tiny rolls!)

The top rack holds the tall and oversized spools of ribbon, and the next
two racks hold the standard sized rolls. Arranged by color, of course. I
may have started hyperventilating at this point.

And package embellishments are clipped to the outside, so nothing gets lost or overlooked.

I wanted a type of command center at eye-level for the small and frequently used items, so I added a magnetic strip.

That created more storage space by utilizing every part of the door.

Magnetic containers (mine are Ikea) are perfect for corralling small gift tags,

and skinny ribbon and twine.

I created an Important Dates sheet {which you can download for free here} and clipped it to the strip as well.
It's so convenient to see all the birthdays and anniversaries in a
single glance. Even the scissors stick up there (and out of reach for tiny hands) with the help of a small magnet!

Another shallow basket sits below, with a bucket for hole punches, pens and tape, and containers for the other smaller items.

I didn't realize my obsession with cute gift cards and tags until I
rounded them up from all my stashes. It's so much simpler to find the
perfect tag with them all in one tidy spot.

The other boxes hold more ribbon remnants and metallic string. And obviously I didn't need
labels...but I never pass up the opportunity! Plus, the gift wrapping
station is more likely to stay organized if it's clear where everything
belongs.

I'm so smitten with this new spot that I couldn't stop hugging it taking pictures!

I was partial to the silver shelving unit, but used a white
over-the-door hook so it would blend in with the door. It's so small
it's not even noticeable from the other side.

How many times do you think I've opened this door (with lots of flair and after a drumroll)? Nope, more than that! Who knew a small hall closet door could be the love of my life such a usable space?! Bring on the Christmas season...I'm ready to wrap! And you're in luck too, because the Container Store 25% off shelving sale lasts another few weeks!

If you've made it through this post, and your heart is racing, then you
and I are meant to be. Isn't sharing our irrational love of pretty,
organized spaces grand?! My son is pretty happy, too...now he can stash
who-knows-what under his bed again! Do you have a system for keeping
gift wrap organized?

"Hi, I'm Cassie, a DIY and
design-obsessed Texas girl, and lover of travel, fashion, sarcasm and
Mexican food. When I'm not hanging with my sweet and funny family, you
can find me kicking the '80s out of our home, one budget project at a
time, on my blog Hi Sugarplum!"

122 comments:

I love projects like these, but the best part of this is the important dates calendar! What a great addition, especially for forgetful people like me.. The ribbon and tags containers are beautiful, too.

Personally, I love when the Xmas stuff is out but I definitely don't need a reminder. After last Christmas I decided to buy Xmas/birthday gifts throughout the year and it has made a HUGE difference. Not only do I not stress about presents but by the time Xmas rolls around any shopping I do is a bonus as I've already purchased well thought out gifts months before. Plus then I get to make a spreadsheet and organize who gets what and if it is birthday or Xmas gift ;-)

I just love this giftwrapping station!!! It is perfect. If I had the chance to create one myself, I'd do it. Unfortunately we've got sliding doors, and no wardrobe that would work for this design... Nevertheless I find it wildly inspiring!

It looks great! I have seen examples of this before, and I am eager to get all of my gift wrapping supplies organized like it as well. But unfortunately, the closet doors in my guest room are sliders :( And there is simply no room to do it in our walk in closet. (Maybe I need a bigger house!) Thanks for the FUTURE inspiration.

I did this last year using a over the door pantry organizer from Walmart. It was $15.00. I just didn't use one of the baskets so I could putt wrapping paper in it and then secured the rolls with twine. It been great and it gets a lot of use and haven't had any problems with it..just thought mention it for those who would like to save a little. ;)

OMG - I love this! My under the bed gift wrapping bins look just like Cassie's and I have bags, tissue paper and ribbon scattered in other places. I will definitely be putting up one of these wrapping stations to get everything into one place. PS. Jen - I just recently discovered your blog and love it !

Great space Cassie, and I would love to do something similar, and especially also like the idea of making it moveable so it can go with us when we go. Can I ask, with just the hook to secure it at the top, doesnt the vertical bar swing wildlly when you open it? Thanks again!

Hi Sally -- the pack contains two hooks...one for the top and another for the bottom. The racks shimmy a bit from side to side, but nothing worrisome. You could put little cabinet pads on the back of them if you were worried about your door.

Perfection! Whenever I do a big closet organizing project, I open the door all day long to admire it...then I take pictures...then I send them to my niece because I know organization and any form of OCD make her swoon, too.

I am so in love with this!!! And the price isn't bad either! I bought some plastic bins a few years back specifically for wrapping paper, etc. However, they only allow for the short rolls...and I always buy the large rolls. I have been searching for a new option and here it is! Thank you !!!!! Oh and did you just hang it over the door, or is it screwed in as well. I have never screwed anything into a door. Is it a problem?

Hi! Love the organization! I can't get the link for the shopping cart above to work. Could you send me the ski for which media rack you used? I actually have the whole wall rack already that I can change to a wrapping station like this!!

Sorry to be a dissenter amongst the ranks, but wouldn't it just be easier to buy the wrapping paper you need when you have something to wrap instead of just stockpiling "stuff" and then having to create a crazy organizing solution for a problem that doesn't even need to exist in the first place??

That may work for some, we all need to consider the systems that make sense to our personal situation {not everything will ever work for everyone}. For me, I like to be prepared. My kiddos come home with last minute birthday invites, I am invited to last minute parties, and when I wrap gifts, I may purchase a roll of gift wrap and a pack of five tags, so I will still need to store those leftovers, I still have a few rolls of wrap that I used for holidays a few years ago. I also purchase cards ahead of time. I don't live near many shopping stores, so to be able to stock up and use what I have in my home is so much more convenient than running out each time something comes up. I think this is a brilliant solution for those who select to keep their supplies at home, and in one happy place.

I'm so jealous of all you guys "over the pond" - we don't have a container store here in the UK, so its sad for me when I see great organising stuff from stores I can't get to - don't even mention Target to me! Sometimes I ponder if I could justify a holiday to the US just to go shopping - is that wrong of me?!?

This is such an amazing solution for keeping wrapping paper and such tidy and easy to get to! I love it so much that I just ordered the things you used here to make my own! Thanks so much for the fabulous inspiration!

also, you can't screw things into hollow doors - we've been having a huge battle figuring out how to use the insides of our doors without using screws! One guy at the hardware store even suggested gluing shelves on, yikes!

LOVE your door. Although I also laughed because I did the bottom part with my paper already and attached it to a wall. What a great feeling to get that paper in order. Now I'm inspired to control the other parts. Any other ideas for the copious amounts of tissue paper?

Love the wrapping paper organization! I've been looking for something like this for a long time. I have just one question-- Where did you buy the top part/piece you used for the wrapping paper. I've found all of the other attachments at the Container store, but that bottomless basket top piece. Any ideas as to where I can get that?

I am so appreciative for this great idea. Even though I don't wrap as many gifts as I used to, I still collect pretty papers and ribbon AND tags. This is such a good idea for us older people to just walk up to the organizer and get what we need instead of trying to get on the floor to pull out containers. I am going to attempt to recreate it on one of my doors. Thank you and bless you.

SO stoked to have found this! I can't spend $100 on supplies right now, but this is definitely on my "save for this" list. Seems like the perfect solution to my "boxes all over the house" and "old hollow doors" situation!

swoon. i need to do this, but i have a question. the media "basket" on the container store website looks like it has a bottom - how did you get the wrapping paper through. and could you email me which basket you bought? i want this for the house i am about to buy!!! barbara.a.vines@gmail.com

I am wondering if you have trouble pulling out a roll of wrap when you need it? It looks as though you would need to remove the basket directly above the roll wrap to have the angle needed to get the roll out?

ARE YOU KIDDING ME!!!???!!! Haha...When this came on sale I looked in to getting it and decided to wait a bit. I enjoyed the thought of it but wasn't sure if it would work as great as I was thinking. Just seemed like too good in the pictures on their site. Turns out you've proven me wrong! Now that I have some of my bonus from last year left I will DEFINATELY be getting this system since I discovered WAY more wrapping paper, etc. in the closet when I went to wrap presents than I thought I had! Thanks so much for sharing! I can totally see why you didn't want to stop taking pictures of this! Hope the new year is treating both of you, Jen & Cassie, well!

Thank you for sharing your wonderful organizational system! I just picked up all the necessities from the Container Store and cannot wait to put it together. Keep up the amazing blog. I simply cannot wait to see what you do next!

I pinned this a while back and when the Elfa stuff went on sale recently, I bought everything to do this! I finished it tonight and LOVE it! Thank you so much for your wonderful idea. I just couldn't be happier with how it turned out. I crave organization but have a hard time figuring out exactly how to organize in the space we have. I appreciate your creativity! Just wanted you to know how thankful I am!

Hello! This is way awesome! Working on ordering the pieces for my skinny closet door in my office. Luckily, they sell some narrow baskets also so it should work. A couple questions... Someone asked, is it tricky to get the rolls of wrap out without moving the basket above them? Also, the measurements for the rod that you can hang from your door is 77'' and some change. My door is 79.5'' tall. Do the hanging pieces on the top and bottom make up for that extra length or will I have to screw it to my door? Thanks so much for your idea and your help!

I love this system and I'm going to implement it if I can afford it but my question is how to you corral and keep organized all the scraps of paper that are large enough to wrap small gifts but too small to remain on the roll?

OHHHHH! I have been looking for something like this for the craft room I am trying to make workable. I Have reconfigured and then gone back and done it again. Problem for me. Knowing where I put things now. This is a joy to behold. Thanks for telling us where you got the holders too. Susan

Wow, this is fabulous! What a perfect way to organize gift wrapping supplies. I found this at the perfect time too since the Elfa sale is going on right now. Can't wait to get all of my gift wrap stuff together neatly in ONE place. Thanks for the inspiration!

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